The Optimized People Development System

Category: employee-engagement

  • The Flow and Pull of Human Inventory – A Lean Perspective

    The Flow and Pull of Human Inventory – A Lean Perspective

    It just sounds wrong to ask such a question. It feels insensitive, almost Orwellian in a way. Should people be considered inventory? Applying lean thinking to a system requires that we look at all the components, and inventory can certainly be a major factor. But, in this case, we’re not talking about a store of things, a list of items on shelves or in boxes. We’re talking about people.

    Inventory is one of the famous wastes in lean thinking. Usually, the goal is not to have too much or have it before it’s needed; this is because lean concepts originated from manufacturing. However, applying lean concepts to a people development system (PDS) can challenge the definition of inventory.

    Exactly Where are the People?

    I was talking to a colleague about helping organizations optimize their PDS by applying lean thinking. As we discussed how to analyze the traditional wastes of lean, my friend suggested that the stack of applications that an organization has for open job postings represents a type of inventory. That stack could be seen as an inventory of raw materials ready to be processed by the PDS. Potential, raw talent, waiting to be built up.

    Extending the analogy, perhaps these are other types of human inventories: 

    • Work in Progress – Those individuals involved in training and development.
    • Finished Goods – No one is ever fully finished learning, but these are reaching their peak in their role.
    • Reworks – those who recognize the need to change and are open to the idea of upskilling and retraining.
    • Obsolete Inventory – those people in the organization who refuse to change or whose roles are disappearing.

    There is also just the overall headcount. Donella Meadows, a leading contributor to systems thinking, often referred to stocks as the foundation of any system. She bolsters this assertion saying, “Stocks are the elements of the system that you can see, feel, count, and measure at any given time.” In the people development system, headcount is the stock, making it a type of inventory; one that can fluctuate by being acted upon by a system’s feedback loops, either a balancing loop or a reinforcing loop, or a combination of both. The PDS is responsible for maintaining the stock of people in all the organizational systems.

    Working Their Way Through the System

    Looking at people as inventory in some instances can be helpful. For example, two key lean principles are establishing flow and creating a pull system.

    Flow

    In this instance, flow represents people successfully moving through the system. It happens when the recruiting process is continually finding and developing acceptable/trainable talent at all key positions. It is created by constantly looking for valuable attributes and talents, even if there is no signal from internal customers. Then, creating the opportunity for those attributes and talents to “flow” into other parts of the organization; for the good of the individual and the organization.

    Flow is not just about people physically moving through the system though. It is also about intellectual movement, emotional movement, and cognitive movement. Flow implies progress and growth. The optimized PDS creates flow by ensuring that everyone is moving (upwardly, laterally) – progressing along their development path, career ladder, skill levels, etc.

    Pull

    Pull is demand. It is created in the organization when there’s a need for people to move up, take on new roles, or add their capabilities to another team. Pull is established when organizational systems have a need for people due to growth, expansion, and success. The Optimized PDS helps find the right types of human inventory, at the right place, in the right quantity.

    Pull is driven by more than just promotions. There’s also skill level advancement and growth in leadership abilities, cognitive training, personal goal attainment, knowledge acquisition, coaching ability, cross-training in other areas, concept understanding (such as lean, kata, systems thinking, etc.), and strategic thinking.

    Signals From the System

    Together, the lean concepts of flow and pull help PDS stakeholders identify where needs are greatest and the pulling forces are strongest. These signals get transmitted back through the PDS so that the demand is met, people are added, they get training, are moved, etc. They will have names and faces, of course. They won’t be known as Works in Progress, or Reworks, or Obsolete. They will, however, be seen in the system.

    There are places in the PDS where monitoring the levels of human inventory and their developmental progress can interject a sense of urgency to ensure that people are efficiently moving through the system and they are being served well along their journey. Just the idea of labeling people as inventory may be inflammatory or sound demeaning to some. If it is meant to value people only as so many interchangeable resources to be manipulated, then it would be offensive. However, observing the PDS through this lens can help us gain a more systems-oriented view and help us manage the organization’s most important inventory.

    Reference – D. H. Meadows, (2008). Thinking in Systems, A Primer.

    Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

  • Just how Powerful are Your People?

    Just how Powerful are Your People?

    Everyone has some amount of power – even if it isn’t much. I remember discussing this idea on several occasions in my graduate studies in educational psychology. The learner has power in the system meant to grant them access to knowledge.

    They have the power to choose to participate; they can determine at what level to affect outcomes within the class; and, if given the opportunity, they even have the power to shape the curriculum.

    The point is; they bring something to the table that is important for the system’s success and survival. They also bring this type of power to the workplace. 

    Some may look at an organization’s people development system and think that generally the power flows in one direction. After all, the organization offers training, development, and other growth opportunities. Employees receive these benefits and find security, safety, potential success, etc.

    However, the caretakers of an optimized PDS understand the nature of shared power and seek to use it to continuously improve their system.

    According to the American Psychological Association, reciprocal determinism, “…maintains that the environment influences behavior, behavior influences the environment, and both influence the individual, who also influences them.” A concept largely attributed to Albert Bandera’s work in social learning theory.

    The people served by the PDS are beneficiaries but also benefactors; customers but also value adders; free agents that can either help or harm.

    Respecting and enabling these give-and-take relationships can help ensure that the undeniable power possessed by employees gets invested back into the organization.

    The Power to Choose

    People get to decide whether or not to contribute; they can selectively add value; they can deliberately enhance organizational pride; they can intentionally choose to be a positive force in the culture. They can do all of these and more – or not.

    They can choose to learn, to strengthen communication, or to underperform. They can elect to exercise their power to help attract talent, to help train that new talent, and to help retain it. Even if they are not directly involved as stakeholders of the people development system.

    The best people development systems use tools like development pathways that help clarify available choices and encourage greater engagement. These top-notch systems acknowledge contributions and are careful to recognize the value that each person chooses to bring.

    The Power to Effect

    The collective motivations of individuals drive an organization’s efforts. Inspired people pour extra energy into their work and their teams. That extra energy underpins stronger relationships, fuels creativity, or simply adds to a heightened level of determination to excel. Uninspired people are generally unconcerned about the affect they might have on the team and the organization.

    Leaders of an optimized PDS develop a new appreciation of the idea of engagement. They understand that the power of influence ripples throughout the organization and can enhance the environment even more.

    The Power to Change

    Being adaptable in today’s workplace is a much-desired skill. People who possess the power and willingness to change, continuously upgrade, and repeatedly step out of their comfort zone are highly valued.  

    Yet change requires support from the organization. It requires a culture that celebrates learning and, to a great extent, a culture that embraces failure as a means of moving forward.

    Development processes that not only support these ideas but actively encourage them can attract people who are excited by change and motivate those who might be intimidated by it.

    Recognizing that every individual has some degree of power is a sign of respect. It is an acknowledgment that everyone involved brings something valuable to the table. And that can make a people development system more effective.  

    Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay